Category Archive: 2011 Vintage

2011, Don’t Rush this Crush

on June 12, 2015

As some of you may have heard, the 2012 vintage is considered to be a “classic” Napa Valley vintage, which came as a relief to many vintners after experiencing a few prior unpredictable vintages. With that in mind, we recently have had many Laird wine consumers inquire about the release our 2012 vintage of cabs leaving the hard-luck 2011 cabs in the shadow of 2012.

Yes, 2011 was a tough growing year; we had a lot of rain and a somewhat cooler summer, which lead to a loss of fruit to rot and low quantity yields. Our red wines resulted in high levels of acidity and were a bit slow to develop. In spite of that, one thing that is being overlooked is the reality that these wines may actually be built to age well, and continue to improve over the next 5 to 10 years. Case in point, the 2006 vintage; this was another slow-to-age year that was not well respected at the time of release. However, those of us fortunate enough to try some of these “lesser” vintages are now enjoying the rewards of aging. For instance, when our 2006 Mast Ranch Cabernet was first released, it was rather tight and acidic with under-ripe fruit notes. Nine years later, it has now matured into a luscious, deep, rich wine that caused one of our staff members to declare, “This is the reason I started drinking wine in the first place!”

So, before you put your nose up towards 2011 vintage, we ask that you consider the potential that these wines have to impress your taste buds in the future, like, in 10 years.